The Library Corporation (TLC) has announced the release of Library•Solution
2.1.1, which includes improved cataloging capabilities and accommodates
the Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) changes, which are scheduled
to go into effect this month. TLC has also announced that it has contracted
with the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) to provide automation
systems and Web-enabled access to the main site of the NLP, as well as
to 65 of its public libraries.

Library•Solution 2.1.1 In referring to the release of Library• Solution 2.1.1, Annette Bakhtiar,
TLC’s CEO, said, “Libraries of all sizes deserve a world-class automation
system that is powerful, accessible, yet easy to use for librarian and
patron alike.”

Library•Solution 2.1.1 includes an upgraded graphical user interface
(GUI) that has been streamlined to help librarians make additions, modifications,
or deletions of new titles or new copies of existing titles, with greater
ease and accuracy. “With the new Library•Solution,” Bakhtiar said, “the
GUI literally ‘knows’ a library’s holdings structure and guides the user
with a collection code drop-down menu that lists valid options for the
library site to which items belong. The new automation system also features
an improved statistics-gathering function, permitting librarians to track
additions, changes, and deletions of titles by branch. Further, Library•Solution
2.1.1 is completely compatible with the new numbering formats for MARC
records to be implemented by the Library of Congress.”

The update is available free of charge for existing Library•Solution
customers, and will be included in all new purchases. According to the
company, the original product was first introduced in 1997 and has been
widely adopted by institutions of all sizes and types worldwide.

TLC, NLP In deploying the new automation system, the NLP had several goals.
Adoracion B. Mendoza, director of the National Library of the Philippines,
said: “We sought a system that would provide access to, and between, the
National Library of the Philippines and the public libraries it supports.
TLC helped us realize our vision to provide fast, efficient, and seamless
communications to the people of the Philippines, through an economical
delivery mechanism with local and regional support.” Bringing it all together
was a new approach that will ultimately provide Web-enabled access to each
of the public libraries and local communities throughout the Philippines,
according to the announcement.

At the national level, the agreement calls for installation of TLC’s
Library•Solution at the Main National Library. Major features include cataloging,
circulation, and reporting functions. The deal further includes two additional
TLC products: Library•Serial, the library automation system dedicated to
serials management, and Library•Acquire, an automation system designed
to manage the entire acquisitions process, including purchasing, tracking
of new materials, and accounting. The NLP will also purchase workstation
licenses as part of the contract.

Upon installation, the National Library of the Philippines will initially
be able to provide access to a Union Catalog, whereby the collections of
the NLP and the collections of more than 200 of the libraries it supports
can be obtained via the NLP Web PAC. As the NLP’s computerization of public
libraries in the Philippines continues, its public libraries nationwide
will become automated and will have their collections accessible via the
Union Catalog. Until that time, these libraries can access the Union Catalog
through the Internet. The total collection of the National Library of the
Philippines Main Library contains approximately 1 million volumes.